"Oh my God," she groaned into her palms, her face in her hands. "This is a disaster,"
"Hey." He pulled her hands away so she would look him in the eye. "At least the worse has happened. Think about it this way. Things can only go up from here, right?" A loud crash from the kitchen startled the both of them as she jumped slightly. They heard the sound of struggling and a young voice screaming, loud and clear.
"Oh you are so dead! I'm telling! Finnnnnn!" Rachel turned to face her boyfriend, whose eyes were about as round as saucers. She raised her eyebrows, tyring to bite back an exhausted scream.
"You do know this is your fault, right?"
xXx
It was a normal night for Rachel Berry. Everything was going on schedule. She had just finished recording a new song for her MySpace which admittedly, was sorely overdue. The last time she had posted anything was slightly less than a month ago. Even the cheerios have stopped posting their insulting comments as a result of the lack of update. She was about to get ready for bed when her cell started ringing. She frowned a little because he was an hour ahead of schedule. He wasn't supposed to call until she was already in bed (She knew it was him because two weeks into the relationship, she suddenly found her phone playing Journey's Faithfully one night when he called. She had always wondered when he managed that.). The frown made its way into a smile however, because if there was one thing she loves more than being on schedule, it was Finn Hudson.
"Well someone's early," she teased, answering her phone.
"Hey Rach!" She held the phone away from her ear. Why was he screaming? Rachel narrowed her eyes. He sounded nervous.
"What's going on?" she asked cautiously. She heard him sigh one the other line.
"Look Rach, don't get mad okay?" She could feel herself getting mad already.
"Oh no. Finn what did you do?" She gasped. "You didn't break the stained-glass couple's bowl I made for you, did you?"
"No," he mumbled. "And we don't talk about that Rach." She rolled her eyes. It was so ridiculous of him to be so embarassed about that gift. Granted it was hot pink with the words Finn+Rachel in purple font all over it, but she made it out of her undying love for him. She would be completely insulted had he not exlplain to her the irrationalities of being a 'dude' ("We just say and do a lot of stupid things that you'll never understand cause you're not a dude. You're like, a lady or whatever, you know?").
"Well then what is it? I need to get ready for bed Finn."
"Itoldmymomwe'dbabysitmyoldneighbor'skidsforheronFriday." He mumbled in a rush and she heard him take in a lung-full of air when he was done.
"You told who we'd what?" she asked, confused.
"My mom. I told my mom we'd- um. Babysit?"
"Who?"
"My old neighbor's kids. You know, the ones before we moved in with Burt? This Friday."
"Finn!"
"I know, I know. Friday's date night. I'm sorry baby. I know how much you like your schedules. But I just felt so bad for my mom. She really wanted to go see this chick movie with Megan, you know? Something about recapturing her youth or whatever. And I kind of told her I would cause Megan can't go otherwise. Her husband's got poker night." She sighed. She holds absolutely nothing against his mother, but she hates it when the woman guilt-trips him into things on date night!
"Isn't there anyone else?" It was not about ruining date night, per se. She just doesn't know what she was supposed to do with children. She might kill them.
"Not really. Babe it's cool if you don't want to. I could do it alone. I think." She could picture the uncertain frown that was surely plastered across his face at that moment.
"It's not that. I guess I don't mind it so much. At least we'll still be together right?"
"Totally," he answered enthusiastically.
"It's just," she hesitated.
"What is it?"
"What do you do with children, exactly?"
"Oh don't worry. I've looked after them a bunch of times. I'll teach you all you need to know." Well, if he was confident he could, then she had nothing to worry about.
"Really? Then I would love to babysit with you Finn Hudson, if you're a good teacher."
"Oh I've taught you a thing or two," he answered, his voice taking on a more playful tone. "You have certainly approved of my teaching skills." She knew her face was flaming to the roots of her hair. She still wasn't used to this type of flirting from him. Or at all. She giggled and silently berated herself.
"So it's a date?"
"Pick me up at seven," he joked.
"If that is all I need to start grooming for bed now,"
"Sure thing babe. I'll leave you to it." She frowned.
"Finn?"
"Yeah?"
"You will be calling me again in an hour, right?"
"Well, duh."
"Okay."
On Thursday she made her way to his locker with a spring in her step as she held a pink bedazzled folder confidently in her hand. She found him already waiting for her, his face contorted in confusion as he leaned against his locker.
"What are you thinking of there?" He smiled when he saw her and straigthtened his posture. She stood on her tiptoes, waiting for him to lean down and meet her halfway. The annoying thing about having a boyfriend who was so much taller than you is the fact that you are always the one waiting for the kiss. The only way she could ever initiate one is by jumping into his arms unexpectedly. Bearing in mind their location, Rachel hardly thought that was appropriate.
"Just something Sharp said in Bio." He grinned as he pulled back. Grabbing her hand, they headed towards the choir room.
"What is it?"
"She was talking about a plant's reposession system-"
"You mean reproduction?"
"Yeah. And I don't get it. There's a girl plant and a boy plant? They all kinda look the same to me."
"Do you want to come over later? I could explain it to you."
"Hell yeah! You still got those cookies you baked yesterday? The double chocolate chip ones with the pink icing?"
"Yes. Oh no! I forgot to pack you some this morning."
"That's okay. I'm coming over anyway. What's that?" he asked, pointing to the folder in her hands. They reached the choir room and were the firsts to arrive, as usual. Rachel squealed.
"Oh I completely forgot! Look what I found from my research last night!" She handed him a pink piece of paper as they sat.
"Child Development? What is this?"
"Oh I was just nervous about our upcoming activity tomorrow night."
"So you googled kids? Rach it's babysitting. I don't think you need reseacrh. Where did you find all this anyway?"
"You know how I feel about foreign territories. I stayed up last night to see whether I could find anything of assistance. Google is a very helpful tool."
"How did you know what to look for?"
"Oh you'd be surprised at the things you can find on the world wide web. You told me they were eight, six and three? All I had to do was google eight year old behavior and voila! Instant information. Are you laughing at me?"
"You're crazy, Berry."
"I prefer the term well-prepared, thank you."
"If by well-prepared you mean nutty."
"What?"
"Nothing. I said those cookies yesterday were really nutty."
It was approximately seven p.m. on a Friday when she rang the doorbell, her palms sweaty and her stomach doing sommersaults. She heard a thud and a loud yell of pain before the door opened to show him smiling brightly, a hand rubbing his knee.
"Hey Rach!"
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah. Just tripped over the rug. Mom's getting ready. We're taking her car over to Megan's. That okay?"
"It's fine." He frowned when he saw her smile.
"Are you okay? You're smiling kinda funny."
"I'm really nervous," she whispered. Finn laughed as he enveloped her into a tight hug.
"It's gonna be fine Rach. These are kids. Not flash-eating zombies trying to rule the world." Rachel buried her face into his chest, trying to calm her nerves.
"Finn honey, give the girl some room for air. You're squishing the life out of her." She looked behind him to fine Carole smiling at her as she walked down the stairs.
"Nah, she loves it." Rachel was blushing. She still wasn't used to his mother. Most of the adults she meets find her grating and generally, Rachel doesn't care. But Finn's mom was different. Rachel wanted the woman to like her.
"Hi Mrs Hudson. You look great."
"It's Carole sweety and thank you very much. I don't always get to dress up. You know it would be nice if my son would acknowledge me when I'm being all fancy but he never notices these things."
"You know I think you're beautiful mom. Besides, you have Kurt for that now."
"Where is he?" Rachel asked, as they waited for Carole to find her keys. Finn shrugged.
"Dunno. Father-son bonding time with his dad."
"They do that?"
"Yeah, once a week."
"Found my keys! Let's go." They walked out the door and she waited as he locked it. Carole was already in the car and she heard the engine revving. She waited for him to turn around and tried to flash him a confident smile. He grinned at her affectionately as he ruffled her hair.
"Babe you need to chill. It's going to be fine. Your hands are freezing," he commented as they walked towards the vehicle. She smiled as he opened the back door for her.
"Honey I called Megan," Carole said as they backed out of the driveway. "She said the kids already had dinner. All you need to do is entertain them for an hour and make sure they're in bed by ten. We'll be home by eleven. Think you can handle it?"
"No problem."
"Those kids love him," Carole said to her through the rearview mirror. Rachel smiled.
"I'm sure they do. Finn is very lovable." She felt like kicking herself in the head. Finn is very lovable? What kind of a statement was that?
Rachel spent the rest of the car ride in silence, observing the easy banter between Finn and his mother, occasionally smiling as Carole winked at her from the rearview mirror after making a joke. To say she felt awkward was an understatement. It was incredibly frustrating being this nervous in front of his mother. Carole would have thought she was a deaf mute if it wasn't for the random sentences she forced out. It was ironic how she was never nervous and always loud in front of a large crowd, but this small, friendly woman made her uncharacteristically quiet.
He took her hand as she got out of the car, his thumb continuously brushing over her knuckles in an effort to comfort her. She appreciated it. She definitely needed it. Three feet away from the house and she heard the sound of children yelling and what she thought sounded like a little boy singing the theme song to Barney at the top of his lungs. The feeling of wanting to pass out that she has managed to keep at bay the whole car ride returned in full force. Rachel suppressed an urge to groan. She tightened her hold on his hand. He nudged her so she would look up and smiled encouragingly at her. Carole was ringing the doorbell when Finn leaned to whisper in her ear.
"You're Rachel Berry. You can do this." Dear God, she hoped so. Somebody opened the door and whoever it was was squealing. Carole moved slightly to the left and Rachel could see a little girl in pink polka-dotted pajamas grinning in the doorway.
"Hi!" she said brightly. She turned around and wailed, "Mooommm! Carole's here!" In the background she heard a woman's voice asking them to come in. "C'mon in. Mom's getting ready. Hi Finn!" Rachel was pretty sure there were stars in the girl's eyes. She would know. The young girl turned towards her and scrunched up her nose.
"Who're you?" Rachel was slightly taken aback by her haughty tone, the smile on her face wavering.
"Hey Sam. This is Rachel." Rachel smiled brightly and extended her hand.
"Hi. You must be Samantha." Samantha looked at her hand and rolled her eyes.
"It's Sam. And I don't shake hands with strangers. They might have cooties." With that, she turned around and bounded inside. Rachel was appalled. She turned around to look at her boyfriend, who shrugged his shoulders.
"You told me she was friendly!" she hissed softly, as they walked behind Carole.
"She is! Maybe she just needs to warm up to you or something. I mean I've known her since she was two so she's used to me." she glanced at him doubtfully but said nothing.
The level of screaming that greeted her in the living room almost made her stick her fingers into her ears. The television was on and Barney was dancing in a cowboy hat. A small boy whom she guessed was the three year old was staring at the screen intently, singing along at the top of his lungs. Another boy was running around the room wearing a Superman cape, yelling incoherently. Rachel gasped when he stepped on his cape and tumbled over, his head inches away from the coffee table. But the boy had stood up immediately, resuming his previous activity. She knew there was no way to disguise her look of absolute terror. She had never been in a room where the noise was so deafening, and this included a roomful of applausing crowd. Out of nowhere, there was a shrill whistle causing every movement to halt, except for Barney. Rachel turned to find a woman who looked to be in her early forties walking into the room. She looked like the older version of Samantha, with her blonde hair tied neatly at the nape of her neck and her blue eyes firm.
"Kids! Listen up! Mommy's going to go out with Carole and you're going to stay here with Finn and- what's your name dear?"
"Rachel." It came out as a squeak.
"And Rachel. Now you know I want all of you to be in bed by ten. Sam, make sure you lay out the clothes you want to wear for Tom's party tomorrow. Tonight. Kaleb, sweety, take off that cape and have Finn put it in the washer. There's orange juice all over it. Kyle, come here and give mommy a kiss." She watched in wonder as the three children lined up and hugged their mother one by one. Megan was a miracle worker. They followed their mother as she walked towards the front door. Megan turned around and smiled.
"The two of you are a life-saver. Thank you so much for doing this." All she managed was a terrified smile as Finn waved off Megan's compliment nonchalantly. The five of them stood at the door and watched as Carole and Megan drove away.
"So," Finn began as he closed the door. "What do you guys want to do tonight?" The noise once again reached the maximum level as the three of them began to speak simultaneously, each one louder than the next, trying to make themselves heard. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Slow down! One by one."
"Barney!" Kyle yelled, pointing toward the direction of the living room. Rachel smiled. He was cute. He was a plump little boy, with large expressive blue eyes and sandy blonde hair.
"Barney it is. Rach can you take him?"
"Me? Alone?"
"Yeah, Please?"
"Okay." Finn smiled encouragingly at her as she walked towards the little boy and took his hand. The noise resumed as Samantha and her brother argued while Finn tried to calm them down. The fifteen second walk to the living room was an awkward one. Was she supposed to say something? It was almost eight thirty and she was thankful they only had another hour and a half before the kids were in bed. She sat on the floor next to the little boy as he stared intently at the screen in front of him. Rachel scrunched up her nose in distaste. She never liked Barney. When she was a child, the purple dinosaur had once terrorized her dream and she hated him ever since. The Wiggles were much better entertainers in her opinion.
"Gwen. Gwen!" It took her a second to realize Kyle was addressing her. She smiled brightly at the little boy.
"My name is Rachel," she said.
"Gwen."
"Ra-chel"
"Gwen!"
"Okay then." Kyle smiled brightly up at her and she felt her heart expanding at his toothless grin. He pointed to the screen.
"You want something sweety?"
"Song."
"Yes they are singing." Rachel frowned. She thought three year olds could talk. Kyle stood up suddenly, excited.
"Gwen song!" This would be so much easier if he could talk.
"The song? You like the song Kyle?" Kyle was shaking his head, his eyes large as he pointed at her.
"You song!" he ordered.
"You want me to sing?" He nodded his head happily. Rachel smiled in relief. That she could do. Softly, she sang along to I love you, startled when the little boy hugged and kissed her noisily when she sang 'with a great big hug and a kiss from me to you'. She had never really understood a grown woman's fixation with little children before. She understood then. As she crooned the last notes of the song with Kyle sitting in her lap, she heard a yell and the sound of footsteps. Kaleb ran into the room, his cape still around his neck.
"Autobots, attack!" he screamed as he ran towards the couch and climbed onto it. "Megatron you will surrender! I am Optimus!" Rachel watched with wide eyes as Kaleb climbed onto the head of the couch and jumped over. In her lap, Kyle watched, disinterested. She started to panic when there was no movement and stood up with the three year old in her arms. She walked over to the back of the couch to find the boy hunched over on the ground in prostration. He wasn't moving. Finn chose that moment to walk in.
"Don't worry," he said, catching the panicked look on her face. "He's just transforming."
"What?" she asked in confusion. Kyle was playing with her hair, and she winced as he pulled a handful of it a little too strongly.
"Transforming. You know? Transformers?" She stared at him blankly.
"That robot movie we watched last week?"
"The one with Shia Lebeouf?"
"That's the one." Kaleb chose that moment to jump up and screamed in her face.
"Starscream! I have been waiting for you! Decepticons will rise again!" He poked a finger hard into her elbow and turned around swiftly to run out of the room. She turned to look at Finn, who was staring at her in amusement.
"Does he have ADD?" she asked in a whisper. He snorted.
"No. You've been reading too much."
"Yeah, well nothing I read said anything about this," she grumbled. Her arms were starting to hurt and she gently placed Kyle on the couch next to her boyfriend. Barney was already over and the screen was blue. The little boy drowsily inched closer to Finn's side and buried his face in his elbow. She grinned. The boy knew all the comfortable places.
"Finn! I chose my outfit! Wanna see?" Samantha asked eagerly as she entered the room. She stopped short when she saw Rachel standing next to the couch. In the background, Kaleb was still yelling incoherently.
"Maybe later, Sam."
"Kay," she answered. Rachel noticed she wasn't smiling anymore. In fact she was glaring. At Rachel. She sat down on the armchair next to the couch, staring at the television sullenly.
"Why is there nothing on?"
"The show your brother was watching has ended," Rachel answered, hoping she sounded friendly.
"You talk funny. You sound like a grandma."
"Sam."
"What? She does?" the little girl said defensively at Finn's warning look. Rachel could feel herself starting to frown. This girl was as bad as a cheerio. "Is she like, your girlfriend or something?" Finn was blushing. Rachel would have thought it was sweet if she wasn't too busy frowning at the way Samantha said the word like it was bad cheese.
"Yep. She's cute, right?"
"Quinn was cuter," was her dark answer. Rachel felt her face flaming in anger. What was this little brat's issue? Finn just laughed, so Rachel glared at him. "Whatever. I'm going to watch Aladdin." Samantha kneeled in front of the cabinet below the television to look for the DVD. Rachel sat down next to Finn in a huff. Slowly lifting his hand so he won't wake the sleeping Kyle, Finn rested his arm along the back of the couch, weaving his fingers through her hair. She realized suddenly that it was quiet.
"Should I check up on Kaleb? He hasn't made a sound in almost five minutes."
"Nah. The little squirt's fine. He's probably in the kitchen stealing cookies."
"Finn! He's not supposed to be eating."
"Chill Rach. There's no harm in an extra cookie or two after dinner. Kid's a growing boy." She rolled her eyes.
"Kalebbbbb!" Samantha screamed suddenly. Rachel thought that if she ever wanted to, the child could be an impressive singer with that set of lungs. "Where'd you put my Aladdin DVD? Kalebbbb!" Kaleb walked into the living room sourly, cookie crumbs leaving telltale marks on his face.
"I don't know where your stupid DVD is. Why would I know where you put Aladdin?" he asked, making a face.
"Because you always steal my stuff!"
"I do not! Why would I want your stupid girl things?"
"Yes you do!"
"Do not!"
"Do too!"
"Do not!"
"Do too times infinity!"
"Do no times infinity times forever!"It was like watching a tennis match. Her head was constantly moving from one kid to another. It was loud and giving her a migraine. It was also oddly compelling.
"Okay, okay!" Finn yelled finally. Rachel was grateful. She had no idea where her ability for speech went, but she didn't think it was coming back anytime soon. Kyle was already stirring, his eyes blinking sleepily. It dawned on her that she probably should have taken him to bed when he was sleeping, but it was too late now. He was awake. "Look, it's almost nine and you won't even get to finish the movie anyway."
"But I want to listen to A Whole New World!" Samantha whined. Kaleb rolled his eyes and stuck out his tongue at his sister. Finn grinned.
"You want to listen to the song?"
"Yeah."
"Rachel can sing it for you."
"What?" Both Rachel and Samantha stared incredulously at him.
"Yeah. She's a good singer, you know."
"Better than princess Jasmine?" Kaleb asked. Rachel looked at him, surprised. She didn't think he would know that. Clearly, he was lying when he said Aladdin was a stupid girl thing because excitement was lighting up his face.
"Way better. Rachel's voice totally trumps Princess Jasmine's. She's the best singer ever." She blushed at the compliment, looking up at Finn adoringly. He thought she was the best singer ever? The Finn-induced high was short-lived.
"Yeah right," Samantha snorted. "You're just saying that because you want to get in her pants." Rachel gasped dramatically. Although she didn't think it was dramatic this time because even Finn raised his eyebrows. You are eight!
"Hey, where'd you learn to speak like that?" he asked with a frown.
"TV."
"Well stop saying stuff like that, kay? It's not good."
"Whatever." she mumbled, but Rachel thought she was blushing. Suddenly she felt bad for the kid. She knew what it was like trying to impress the boy you had a crush on and trying to control your jealousy at the same time. It often led to embarrassing situations like the one Samantha was obviously experiencing. She wanted to help.
"You know, A Whole New World is one of my favorite songs ever."
"Really? Me too! I mean, it's okay for a girly song." She bit back a smile.
"Totally. You really want to hear me sing it?" she asked. Kaleb nodded his head as he sat on the armrest of the couch next to her. Samantha shrugged and Kyle looked up at her, his eyes wide.
"Gwen song," Kyle mumbled sleepily. She looked at Finn and he was tilting his head towards her, smiling. Rachel felt her confidence growing. Singing was her forte. Disney songs had been included in her repertoire since she was five years old. Taking a deep breath, she opened her mouth and began to sing. She could feel the room changing. Samantha was looking at her, a reluctant look of awe on her face. Kaleb was also staring, his eyes caught somewhere between starstruck and wonder. Finn was looking at the children in amusement before turning back towards her, the pride evident in his eyes. Rachel struggled to keep herself in character and not break into the grin that was teasing her face. At her last note, Finn stood up enthusiastically to give her a standing ovation, hollering her name like she was a footballer who just scored a touchdown. Giggling, she gave a mock curtsey.
"Thank you, thank you. I'll be happy to sign autographs," she joked.
"You really do sound like a princess! Can you do Colors of the wind? I mean, I think that's what the stupid song's called, rght Sam?" Kaleb asked when he saw the surprised look on Rachel's face. Apparently he enjoyed Disney princesses more than he let on.
"You're okay," Samantha muttered begrudgingly, ignoring her brother.
"Why thank you," Rachel answered graciously. Maybe the night wouldn't end in total disaster after all. "Kaleb, are you okay?" she asked in alarm when she noticed the boy suddenly frowning. His face was turning green and before she knew what was happening, he had already thrown up all over her shirt. Rachel shrieked as Finn let out a yell of surprise. They startled Kyle, who was already falling back asleep and he began to cry. Loudly.
"Ewww!" Samantha jumped up from her seat, pinching her nose in disgust.
"I don't feel so good," Kaleb mumbled, holding his stomach. She didn't either. Rachel didn't really know whether she was about to cry or scream in disgust. The smell was making her dizzy.
"Sam bring your brother into the kitchen okay? Get him a glass of water. C'mon buddy. Don't cry. I'm sorry we scared you." Finn had picked up the toddler and was trying to calm him down, while Rachel stared at them blankly. This was not happening. She did not just have a six year old child throw up on her owl-print shirt. It was like an out of body experience, she thought, as she watched her boyfriend manage to get Kyle to stop crying and the two other children walking towards the kitchen, Kaleb looking just fine, if a little ashen. She could only be thankful that she wasn't miss Pillsbury. She could almost ignore the stench by now. Thank God the boy had aimed perfectly at the plastic owl across her chest, so at least it wasn't seeping into her skin. She snapped back into place when Finn called her name.
"Oh my God," she groaned into her palms, her face in her hands. "This is a disaster,"
"Hey." He pulled her hands away so she would look him in the eye. "At least the worse has happened. Think about it this way. Things can only go up from here, right?" A loud crash from the kitchen startled the both of them as she jumped slightly. They heard the sound of struggling and a young voice screaming, loud and clear.
"Oh you are so dead! I'm telling! Finnnnnn!" Rachel turned to face her boyfriend, whose eyes were about as round as saucers. She raised her eyebrows, tyring to bite back an exhausted scream.
"You do know this is your fault, right?" she hissed. He sighed.
"I know, I know. I'm sorry. Look, just go to the toilet okay? Ugh take off your shirt. Wait there while I go see what those munchkins did and I'll see you there. Rachel you need to calm down."
"I'm fine. I'm fine." She repeated the words a second time for herself more than him. Blindly, she followed as he led her to the bathroom next to the kitchen. Her ears were ringing but she could still vaguely hear the spat between the siblings in the kitchen. Entering the bathroom, she had stood stupidly in front of the sink for a second or two. It wasn't a big deal. She was just surprised, that was all. Thanking her lucky stars for her lack of a gag reflex, she began to unbutton her blouse, holding her breath and groaning when she was forced to touch the vomit-stained buttons. Gingerly, she took off her shirt and threw it into the sink. She took a hand towel, brought it under the open tap and began to clean herself up, sighing. Babysitting was turning out to be a nightmare. She should have known she would be bad at this. She wasn't good with children even when she was a child herself. What on earth made her think she would be better as an adult?
It took almost fifteen minutes but when she was certain that the smell was gone, she started in on her shirt. It wasn't exactly a new experience, if she thought about it. She had spent many hours in this position, washing a stained shirt under the sink. Sure, this was a little (okay, a lot) grosser than usual, but at least it was easier to clean off than dried egg yolk. She wondered how Kaleb was doing. He probably ate too much. He spent a long time in the kitchen. Rachel let out a gasp as she looked at her watch. It was close to ten. The children were supposed to be in bed by then. She knew they were still downstairs because she could here Samantha screaming at her brother. Giving up on her shirt she sat on the toilet with her head in her hands. She was a failure as a babysitter. Poor Megan was going to come home to screaming children and Carole was probably going to hate her and thought she was an awful choice for her son. Feeling the prickling in the back of her eye, Rachel relented and began to cry. Her quiet sniffles turned into heaving sobs before she realized it. This was her one chance to prove herself to Finn's mother and she pretty much blew it to smithereens. The woman was never going to trust her with anything again.
"Rach?" A knock on the door jolted her from her misery and she wiped at her face furiously.
"In a minute!" She stood in front of the sink and splashed her face with water. Looking in the mirror, Rachel took a deep breath before unlocking the bathroom door. He was standing in the doorway, looking grim. It was then that she realized she was standing in her bra. Rachel felt her face burn as he pushed past her to get in. Closing the door behind them, she turned to face him. Finn was already sitting down where she just vacated, one hand pinching his forehead.
"Oh my God, that was exhausting." he moaned, his eye closed.
"What happened?"
"Kaleb dropped the glass of water. Geez there were pieces of glass everywhere and the floor was all wet. I just finished cleaning it up." That would explain the wet patches on his jeans, she thought idly. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." He frowned and stood up, walking towards her. Placing a hand under her jaw, he pulled gently until she looked up. "Are you crying?"
"No."
"Your eyes are all swollen."
"I'm not crying. Anymore."
"Rachel I am so sorry about that. I swear to you I had no idea he was going to upchuck all over your shirt."
"Of course you didn't. It's fine Finn. It was an accident. I don't even have a gag reflex, so it' not like I felt like throwing up or anything. I was just surprised. That's all." He was looking at her guiltily and she forced herself to smile in assurance.
"Where's your shirt?"
"In the sink." It was like they were both suddenly aware of her lack of clothing because things got awkward really fast. She knew he was trying really hard not to stare at her breasts, but he was doing a really bad job of it. She snorted. Who would have thought they'd end up like this?
"Okay we definitely need to find you something to wear."
"You need to get those monsters to bed first," she answered grumpily. He was grinning like the proverbial cat who got the canary.
"Done." She looked at him dubiously.
"Done?"
"Every last one of 'em." he replied proudly.
"That's impossible. How long was I in here?"
"About half an hour."
"You cleaned up the kitchen and got all three of them to bed in half an hour? What did you do?" He shrugged.
"They like me. I mean Kyle was already asleep so I just had to carry him up to his room, no problem. And well, let's just say I made a deal with Kaleb. Told him I won't tell on him about the cookie party he had in the kitchen if he could make sure he got himself ready and under the covers by ten." Rachel frowned.
"Is he alright? Shouldn't we tell his mother? Maybe he needs to see the doctor." Finn waved a hand dismissively.
"Nah. The kid's fine. It was just one too many oreo. He ate like, a whole boxful."
"Told you we should have checked up on him," she berated, annoyed.
"A little puke's not going to hurt the kid."
"Finn that's disgusting. I'm sure you managed to convince Samantha without a hitch," she said archly. He grinned cheekily.
"Jealous are we?" Rachel scoffed.
"Of an eight year old girl? Hardly. She's completely head over heels in love with you."
"I know. It made tonight so much easier, let me tell you."
"Yeah well, she hates me." He nodded sagely.
"'Course she does. You're competition." She rolled her eyes.
"It would have been nice if you gave me this information beforehand you know. At least I would have known what to expect. I suck at babysitting," she said dejectedly. Finn smiled, putting an arm around her waist.
"You were okay for a first timer. Kyle likes you." She smiled affectionately at the thought of the plump toddler.
"He is adorable. He keeps calling me Gwen though."
"Yeah I wondered about that." It was silent. There was no screaming, no running, no yelling.
"They're really in bed?"
"Yep." Rachel let out a sigh of relief and hugged him tightly.
"Thank God." His chuckled reverberated against her ear. "I'm never having children," she muttered. He was silent and she thought he hadn't heard her before he cleared his throat.
"Never?"
"Nope. I suck with kids."
"Not even one?" She thought about it.
"Well, maybe one. When I'm like, thirty or something acient like that. And after I've made it in Broadway and won a Tony. Maybe then."
"Thirty's okay I guess."
"Okay for what?"
"Okay for starting a family."
"Oh." Did he mean it was okay for starting a family with her? Or just starting a family in general? Rachel thought having a family with Finn probably wasn't so bad.
"You're good with them," she said, her voice muffled against his shirt. She felt his shrug.
"I like kids. When I was younger I always thought it would be awesome to have a brother, you know? Someone to do something with. Mom was always busy, so it was kind of boring being an only child. So when Megan and her husband moved next door, I just pretended like Sam, she was the only one around then, was my sister. I took her everywhere I went for like a month. Puck was really pissed." He chuckled at the memory. She could see him as a boy, excitedly dragging a toddler everywhere he went. She grinned into his chest.
"You would have been a great brother. No wonder she's so in love with you." She felt him kiss the top of her head before he unwound her arms around him.
"Babe we have got to find you something to wear." She looked at him morosely.
"Where? I can hardly borrow Megan's shirt." He frowned for a while before snapping his finger.
"I've got an idea."
"Finn what are you doing?" Her eyes were wide as he began to take off his shirt.
"Finding you something to wear," he said simply, opening the bottom of the shirt and dumping it over her head.
"But then you'll have nothing to wear."
"I got my sweater outside, don't worry about it. Put up your arms. You're so tiny," he muttered. The sleeves reached her knees. Pulling up a sleeve, he began to roll it up patiently until it fell just below her elbow. Rachel felt herself blushing as he moved on to the next one. He was rolling her sleeve intently, unaware of the awkwardness of the situation. She took a deep breath full of air that smelled like Finn. It was oddly comforting.
"There!" He looked very satisfied with himself. His shirt fell below her knees, much longer than the skirt she had on. She had to pull the shirt back so that the neckline wouldn't be too revealing. Rachel looked into the mirror and smiled. It was like wearing a dress. A dress that smelled like Finn. It was a little intoxicating. She turned around and beamed at him before jumping into his arms. Finn staggered a little, caught unaware, but held her firmly against him.
Hey there stranger," he whispered softly, their faces inches apart. "You smell really good. Is that a new perfume?"
"Yes," she answered hoarsely. "It's called Finn." She leaned her head in closer so that her lips were right next to his ear. "It's my favorite scent in the whole world." She grinned as she felt him shiver against her.
"I smell good on you," he whispered roughly before pulling back to kiss her soundly on the lips. They exited the toilet hand in hand five minutes before Carole's car pulled up in the driveway, both wearing the same stupid grin on their faces. Rachel thought, as she leaned her head against his shoulder on the car ride back, that all things considered, her first babysitting experience was a resounding success.